Morbidly obese children taken into care

As many as 74 children have been put into care in the past five years because they are morbidly obese, it has been reported.

Figures revealed that 183 youngsters under 11 in England, Scotland and Wales have been recorded as weighing more than 16 stone in the past three years. Eight were more than 20st and the heaviest weighed 23st 2lb.

There has been a 12% rise in the number of under-16s admitted to hospital for obesity in the past year, figures released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre this week show. Across all ages, obesity admissions across England were lower for every age group except the under-16s and those 65 and over.

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Social services removed the children from their families for their protection because their excessive weight caused major health concerns.

NHS data shows one in 10 children is obese by the time they start primary school putting them at risk of developing health problems.

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